


Testing Fate

by acoolgirl



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Imported from Tumblr, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 06:54:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16760161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acoolgirl/pseuds/acoolgirl
Summary: Being forced into a semester-long project with your worst enemy is hard enough, but when that's extended to 18 years? Utterly impossible. Unthinkable. With Madge and Gale, perhaps unavoidable.





	1. Chapter 1

“Katniss. Katniss. Katnissss”

With a long-suffering groan, Madge’s best friend finally opens her eyes, only to glare at her.

“What?” Katniss snaps groggily, tossing her phone back to where it lay by her pillow after checking the time. “I don’t have to be up for another two hours.”

“It’s the first day of our last semester in college Katniss,” Madge says excitedly. “I thought we could start the end with a big breakfast!”

“Do I have to?” Katniss groans, throwing an arm over her eyes.

“Please,” Madge pouts even though Katniss can’t see. Normally she would never behave so clingingly, but as their graduation grew closer and closer, so did their inevitable goodbye, and Madge wanted to squeeze in as much quality time with Katniss as she could.

“Fine,” Katniss sighs, removing her arm. “But you better cook everything. I mean it.”

“Everything is already made,” Madge assures her with a smile.

After a little more grumbling from Katniss, the two end up in their tiny breakfast nook and eat the modest but well-prepared meal Madge had set out for them. The August sun was well into the sky by now, and Madge basked in the peaceful ambiance of it all. Getting randomly matched to Katniss had been the best thing to have happened to her in college.

“You have an 8 am today, right?” Katniss asks as she takes a sip of her coffee.

Madge nods. “Environmental science.”

“Yeah?” Katniss raises a brow. “Is that some new requirement for pre-meds?”

“No, no,” Madge laughs. “Turns out I had to fulfill one advanced science elective. I picked environmental because it’s an important topic that I should be informed on anyways.”

“Huh,” is all Katniss says. “I know Gale’s taking environmental this semester too.”

At the sound of her nemesis’ name, Madge stiffens. _Gale Hawthorne_ was easily the worst thing that had happened to her in college.

“Cool,” is all Madge can get out. Katniss misses on the tension and stacks more waffles onto her plate.

Madge lounges around for a while longer before she has to get up and change. After a quick hug from Katniss, Madge goes down and catches the bus to go back to campus.

Normally, during the 15-minute ride, she reviewed her notes for whichever class she was going to, but since it was the first day, she didn’t have any material. Which meant she was left with her thoughts.

Which, of course, went to Gale.

In her opinion, he was a prime example of the typical American frat boy, which is to say: utter garbage.

She knew that he had come in on a full ride, and a merit-based one at that, but whatever brains he had were diluted with arrogance, immaturity, and a complete disrespect for women in general.

Oh, and she knew he hated her just as much, if not more than she hated him. While she had a basis in her loathing (just count the number of girls he’s slept with), his prejudice towards her came from an assumption. An inaccurate one at that.

He thought she was rich. Everyone did. It came with the Undersee name. The truth wasn’t as glamorous.

Here’s a simple equation for you:

8 years of chemo for a mother that was always sick + two failed election campaigns of a father who grew more and more depressed by day = a total loss of the Undersee ‘fortune’ (it hadn’t even been _that_ much)

Sometimes she wishes all the bitches that imagined her speeding around in a Lambo in L.A saw where she actually came from.

A trailer park. Complete with the fucking plastic flamingo in the yard and enough alcoholics that Madge was surprised the whole place didn’t blow from all the fumes.

But there was one thing that kept her from being labeled as white trash indefinitely.

Her trust fund.

She had only a couple thousand left, nowhere near enough to cover her future med school expenses, but Madge recognized that her leftover privilege was what had allowed her to get through college, when really she should be in a trailer of her own, pregnant with baby number 3 while trying to figure out who’s the baby daddy, high as a fuckin kite.

The bus comes to a stop and Madge gets up solemnly.

Her trust fund was the only thing stopping her from smashing in guys like Gale’s teeth when they made snide remarks about her “lofty” upbringing. She’d get into med school- something you can’t just fucking buy, and she’d become a kickass doctor and then she’d rub the truth into those douche’s faces. Sure, the trust fund had paid for her undergrad, but med school was gonna be all loans, and then no one could accuse her of having the easy way out.

Not that her life has ever been easy.

Madge walks across the quad, making her way to her class. The pleasant weather lightens her thoughts, and watching all the excited freshmen making their way around brings a small smile to her face. By the time she reaches the science building, she’s forgotten all about Gale.

“Sorry Undersee, but the “Managing offshore accounts” class is in another building.”

_Son of a bitch._

“The free std testing is in JC,” Madge offers breezily without turning around. Please, Lord, do not let him be walking to the same class as hers.

“Don’t worry princess” his voice is suddenly closer and in the next moment, he’s walking right beside her. It infuriates her how…hard it is, to be unaware of his presence. “My equipment is all tuned and ready to go, but I’m afraid you must be this tall to get on this ride.”

Madge stops walking to glare at him. He stops too and turns around to smirk at her as if he’s actually said something clever. It really sucks the most gorgeous man she had never met was also the worst.

“What class are you going to?” Madge asks snappishly.

Gale raises a thick brow. “Why the burning curiosity, princess? Need a commoner around to draw the carriage for you?”

Actually, Madge was pretty sure that she’d hate him even if she was rich, he was that big of an asshole.

“You are a stunning example of how toxic masculinity is really just a mask for a fragile ego,” Madge tells him as she steps around him. She doesn’t even care if they’re in the same class anymore; she’ll ignore him regardless.

“I have environmental science,” Gale finally answers, rejoining her. Madge ignores him, pushing away the feeling of dread from spending the next 16 weeks in the same room as him twice a week.

Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t say anything else to her, not even on the elevator ride up, but when they finally reach the classroom door, his hand shoots out to grab onto the handle, effectively locking her out.

“What’s environmental got to do with orgo?” Gale asks as he peers down to her. Madge looks up to him in shock. How had he known she was majoring in organic chemistry? The obvious answer comes to her a second later. Katniss.

“Gotta figure out where’s the best place to dump bodies as freakishly large as yours after we poison them,” Madge says flatly.

“Why do that when you can ask daddy to hire a hitman,” Gale sneers, opening the door. God, she needed a smoke.

Annoyingly enough, Gale had distracted her enough that all the good seats have been taken already, and she has to sit in some shitty seat in the back of the large auditorium. Was every bitch in the uni taking environmental this semester?

“Can you fuck off?” Madge hisses incredulously as Gale takes a seat right. next. to. her. In a totally empty row.

“Right here?” Gale asks salaciously. “Weren’t you just accusing me of having an std?”

The professor begins speaking to the class, but Madge isn’t paying attention.

“Look at that girl over there,” Madge tries. “Her boobs are huge. Go bother her and leave me alone.’’

Gale’s face becomes sympathetic. “Aw, Undersee. No need to feel self-conscious, your rack is fine.”

Madge is about to whip her bag into his face, a move she saw one of her neighbors execute several times with her third husband, when she catches something the professor says.

“We are constantly interacting with our environment, which is why I believe it’s important to remain engaged with the material outside of class. Whoever you’re sitting closest to will be your partner for a semester-long project.”

No. No no no. _NO!_

Looking around frantically, not only is Gale the only one by her in the nearest vicinity, but even if she leapt across two rows, everyone has already seemed to have partnered up as they chat like fucking peas in a pod.

“Fuck,” Gale says under his breath, and Madge has to curl her hands into fists to restrain from choking him.

“I hope you’re happy,” Madge whispers. She refuses to even look at him for the rest of class.

This was going to be a _long_ semester


	2. Chapter 2

Beyonce’s lyrical voice playing from the radio contrasted sharply with Madge’s current shrill octave.

“Can you believe him?” Madge seethes as she scrubs a stained mug with more vigor than was really necessary. “Now I’m stuck on this stupid project with him for the entire semester! All because he had to plop his fat ass next to me!”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” kind Peeta tries to placate her. Poor guy had come over to bake a surprise for his girlfriend, and ended up having to deal with her currently unstable roommate. “I mean, he is smart.”

“Smart!” Madge scoffs as she moves on to the next dirty cup. “If you’re referring to stupid-man-and-repugnant-turd, than yes, Gale is S.M.A.R.T.”

“Madge,” Peeta’s tired tone makes her look up. He’s holding a bowl of batter while staring at her disapprovingly. “I know you two don’t get along, and hell, I hardly like the guy, but everyone knows he takes his classes seriously. You’re overthinking this one.”

“It’s my last semester,” Madge explains worriedly. “You know how hard I’ve worked to earn my 3.82 gpa. Peeta, if it goes under 3.7, I won’t get into any med-school.”

Peeta finally rolls his eyes. “I’m not even a STEM major and I can tell you confidently that even if you flunked a three-credit class, you wouldn’t go down to a 3.6.”

Defeated by cold-hard math, Madge resumes washing the dishes silently, the sound of eggs being cracked and Jay-Z’s verse the only thing filling the silence.

“You know,” Peeta suddenly speaks up, a mischievous grin on his face. “I’ve always had a theory about why Gale always acts up around you.”

“Do enlighten me,” Madge says, rolling her eyes this time.

“I think he likes you.”

The wet bowl slips from Madge’s hand, falling back into the sudsy water with a loud plop!

“That,” Madge says as she fishes out the bowl. “Is the most crackhead thing you’ve ever said.”

_“Your love’s got me looking so crazy right now,”_ Peeta sings along with Beyonce, undulating his hips sensually. She splashes him.

* * *

Madge figures if there’s a place for them to meet up, it’s the library. Neutral territory, populated, and quietness enforced.

Gale, of course, is late.

She knew she should be doing problems from her MCAT review book with this spare time, but all she can do is stare a hole in the wall across from her as she awaited that hunkering idiot.

“Hey.”

Madge looks up sharply as Gale enters the small study-room Madge had booked, and lowers himself into the seat across from her. For a moment, Madge’s eyes drop to his blue t-shirt, and how it seems to be stretched at every seam to cover his wide shoulders entirely.

Eyes snapping back up when they linger on his biceps, Madge glares at him. He shows up 15 minutes late, and all he has to say is hey?

“So glad you could finally join me,” Madge says icily. “It’s not like we have a set time for this room I had to book.”

Gale shoots her a nasty glare as he takes out his books from his bag. “Something came up.”

“Oh, I’m sure yours is always coming up,” Madge taunts. She knew in the back of her mind she was being difficult, but it was the third day of her period- when her cramps were always the worst- she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night because she was up late working on an assignment for another class, and the stress of the upcoming MCAT was really beginning to gnaw away at her. “I bet you couldn’t keep it down even if you tried.”

“My brother got pneumonia,” Gale tells her cooly. “My mom checked him into the hospital an hour ago. I called for an update.”

A tight knot of guilt immediately forms in her stomach.

“Gale, I am so sorry,” Madge immediately apologizes. “Is there anything I can do?”

Gale just shrugs. “Unless money can buy a miracle cure, then no. You can’t.”

Madge doesn’t even take offense at his slight. Properly ashamed of her actions, Madge vows then and there to be extra kind to Gale to make up for her bad behavior.

“I’m sorry,” Madge repeats for extra measure before moving on. “So did you have any ideas for our project?”

Gale taps a pencil against his notebook. “Kinda. Not very good.”

Normally, his lack of initiative would have annoyed her, but she purposefully ignores it as she pulls out her own notes.

“Well, a lot of classes I’ve taken are actually research-based in labs, so I was thinking-”

“No,” Gale interrupts her. “We’re not doing that.”

_Deep breaths, Undersee_

“Why?” Madge asks in a strained voice.

“We’re not copying your previous research,” Gale says as he leans into his chair, crossing his arms.

“It’s not copying,” Madge clarifies through gritted teeth. “It’s just extrapolating off of known data.”

“Nope,” Gale says again, popping the last syllable. “Not doing it.”

“Why not?” it’s taking all her willpower not to shout. The bloating in her intestines isn’t helping either.

“Cause you have a better understanding of this stuff,” Gale points out casually. “Even if I try to learn it all, a lot of the research will be naturally shifted to you.”

Huh? That almost sounded like…

“I want this project to be split 50/50,” Gale continues. “Let’s pick something that’s either familiar or new to both of us, so we start on the same foot.”

Damn her ovaries for releasing this unwanted egg, because Gale’s simple logic is making her eyes dangerously wet. Since when did he have any ethics?

“Ok,” Madge agrees quietly. “Do you want to share your ideas then?”

For a while they just brainstorm, flipping through their textbook and skimming internet articles as they tried to find a good idea. It was all going rather well when her uterus decides that it’s the perfect moment to commit violent suicide.

Cramps shredding her insides like a blunt razor, all Madge can do is double down and bite her lower lip. Ah, the joys of adulthood: periods, an already shitty experience, getting shittier.

“You alright?” Gale asks suddenly, worry evident in his voice. Madge tries to sit up and straight as she can and weakly waves him off.

“Fine,” she grunts as she crosses her legs, praying the pain passed soon.

“You don’t look fine,” Gale says, unconvinced. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m on my period, ok?” Madge snaps, unable to look at him. It was ridiculous, really. They were grown adults, both aware of the female reproductive system. There was no cause to be embarrassed, and yet she was, feeling as humiliated as the time in middle school her jeans split when she bent down.

“Oh.”

Madge doesn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes and goes back to reading her textbook, the cramp blessedly deciding to pass.

She hears Gale ruffle through his backpack before she sees his outstretched hand. He’s holding a bite-size Snickers bar.

“Want it?” Gale asks, bouncing the bar up and down in his palm.

God. She really really wanted chocolate. But she really really did not want to take it from Gale. Her craving wins out and she takes the candy from his hand, putting the entire bar into her mouth.

“I forgive you,” Gale tells her amusedly as she chews, resting his jaw on a hand. She knew she shouldn’t have taken his offering. “You know, for being a huge B earlier. I would have acted worse if that was happening to me down there.”

It takes Madge a moment to swallow the sticky sweet.

“Since when do you censor yourself?” Madge asks unamusedly, balling up the wrapper and tossing it in the trash can.

“My Ma raised me not to call women a bitch,” Gale answers proudly. “Or cunt. Or whore. Or slut.”

For a moment, all Madge can do is stare at him, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest. She had grown up around men who had no problem using any of those words on any woman, be it their own mother or daughter.

“Why the surprise?” Gale asks, looking offended. “You think I’m some kind of chauvinist?”

“I don’t think about you at all,” Madge lies. “Anyways, I think I found a good topic.”

Gale approves and they’ve finally found themselves their topic. As they finalize their project’s proposal, Madge realizes that Gale doesn’t treat her poorly because he treats all women badly. No, Gale treats her the way he does because he genuinely dislikes who she is as a person.

That hurts. She has no idea why, but it does. Sharply. And as much as she wants to blame hormones, it’s more than that.

* * *

_Madge Undersee: Professor emailed me back. Turns out no one else thought to study slit deposits by the river, so the topic is approved and all ours._

_Gale Hawthorne: Cool_

_Gale Hawthorne: Wanna visit it Saturday to scope it out?_

_Madge Undersee: I have lab on Saturday. I’m always free Tuesday nights_

_Gale Hawthorne: Weirdly enough, so am I_

_Madge Undersee: I’ll need a ride_

_Gale Hawthorne: You can ride me anywhere ;)_

[GALE HAWTHORNE CAN NO LONGER SEND/RECEIVE MESSAGES TO MADGE UNDERSEE]

[GALE HAWTHORNE CAN NOW SEND/RECEIVE MESSAGES TO MADGE UNDERSEE]

_Gale Hawthorne: Knew you couldn’t resist me_

_Madge Undersee: Actually, I wanted to know if your brother is doing better._

_Gale Hawthorne: Oh_

_Gale Hawthorne: Yeah. He is. Should be out of the hospital tomorrow._

_Madge Undersee: Good_

[GALE HAWTHORNE CAN NO LONGER SEND/RECEIVE MESSAGES TO MADGE UNDERSEE]

***  
It was the kind of heat that literally made you want to die. There was no metaphor for it. Just plain agony.

“Forget slit deposits,” Madge grumbles as she steps over a large root. “We need to find a way to stop fucking global warming. This shit is like lava vapor.”

Gale had decided to undergo the two-mile hike it took to get to the large river that ran through the woods on the outskirts of their university town shirtless, and seemed to have no concerns of sunburn.

“Shall I fetch an umbrella for the fair lady?” Gale asks mockingly in a terrible British accent. There’s a perfect rock for him to trip over, but Madge would never voluntarily touch the bare skin of his back, especially not now, when it was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, even if it was to push him.  
Still, her eyes annoyingly enough keep on focusing on the glistening brown skin of his back, growing distracted enough times that she’s already tripped three times. It was absolutely foolish, but every time she sees a muscle of his flex and move, her mouth grows drier. She doesn’t even try to blame it on dehydration.

Damn Gale Hawthorne and his impeccable genes.

Don’t even get her started on his actual jeans, because she absolutely REFUSES to ogle his goddamn ass in the middle of the woods. Not that the location matters. Or the fact that she can’t stop herself from staring at his butt either. She really could not say who had a rounder tush, him or her.

Needless to say, when they finally spot the blue waters, Madge is beyond relieved. She desperately needs to cool off in more ways than one. And she needs a distraction from the fact that she’s pathetic enough to go goo-goo-gaa-gaa as soon as Gale lost his shirt. What was she, fucking 14?

“Despite your best efforts, we’ve made it in one piece,” Gale announces unnecessarily.

“Not to worry, I found a pack of rabid wolves for us to run into on the way back,” Madge shoots back sarcastically, walking around him to take in the view. Mostly untouched by civilisation, the river bank really was beautiful. Without even realizing it, Madge feels her muscles relax as she hears the sparkling blue water rush past her.

But something, she can’t explain what, feels off. Turning around, she finds Gale squinting up at the sky, lips pursed together.

“What?” Madge asks.

Gale blinks out the sun a few times before looking down at her. “Did you check the forecast before coming out here?”

Madge frowns, not liking where this was going. “No. Why?”

Gale points up. “See that cloud up there? I think-”

Gale’s explanation is cut off with a loud clang of thunder, and in the next moment, the sky above them suddenly darkens.

“Perfect,” Madge deadpans. It starts pouring a moment after that.

A small shriek escapes her as the startling cold water hits her overheated skin. There’s another clap of thunder, and it’s like whoever is up there turns on the faucet even further. In just seconds, it had begun to rain so hard, she could hardly make out Gale in front of her.

“The river could flood!” she barely hears Gale shout. “We need to go to high ground!”

“Ok!” Madge shouts back, following his retreating figure.

This time her trek in the woods is no longer made difficult by Gale’s muscles, but by how muddy the ground has already become. She’s following Gale up a pretty steep incline when she steps into a weak spot in the soil, falling roughly onto her face.

Spitting out a mouthful of mud, Madge has hardly pushed herself onto her side when she feels herself slipping down the hill.

“What are you doing?” she hears Gale call out from the top of the hill, but she ignores him, instead sticking out her foot to stop her descent.

This proves to be a huge mistake only seconds later. She must have rolled her ankle when she fell, because as soon as she puts pressure on it, it’s as if her entire leg has been set on fire.

“Madge!” she hears Gale call again, but all she can do is lie in the mud, curling in on herself so she could clutch her throbbing ankle, tears somehow making it past her tightly shut eyelids, no doubt painting an abstract picture on her face as they trailed through the mud.

Talk about a low point.

She’s about to get up and try again, when she’s turned on her back and lifted into the air.

She won’t ever forget that moment where she was suspended in the air, the raindrops falling towards her as she drew closer to them.

The beauty of the moment is interrupted when several raindrops fall directly into her wide open eyes, and as she rubs them frantically, she’s become aware that it is Gale that holds and carries her. It’s his skin that’s still somehow hot against her.

She’s a tumble of emotions by the time Gale ducks under a large rock that juts out enough that provides almost a roof as they sit beneath a ledge of Earth. 

“You good?” Gale asks as he finally sets her down. Madge stares at him dazedly, mesmerized, for some reason, by how his wet hair sticks to his head.

“Madge?” Gale speaks again, waving a hand in her face. “Did you hit your head?”  
Blinking, Madge returns to reality. Somewhat.

“Um, no,” she answers in an unusually high pitch. “I think I hurt my ankle.”

She jumps so high when Gale touches her bare leg, she nearly smashes her head against the rock above them.

“Uh, is it ok if I check?” Gale asks awkwardly, tipping his head towards her ankle. Embarrassed at her visceral reaction, Madge just nods.

Gale prods in an uncharacteristic show of gentleness. In the time it takes him to poke around, Madge observes him through winces and gasps. His hand was so large against her ankle, and their skin tones contrasted sharply, despite the fact Madge has always kept a decent enough tan on her. She can’t even put into words how it feels to be touched so attentively by him.

“I think it’s a sprain,” Gale diagnoses her after setting her foot down.

Madge nods again. “I thought so too.”

Gale stares at her for a moment before pulling out a square piece of cloth from the pocket of his jeans. He holds it out in the rain for a moment before reaching out with it until it hovered by her face.

“You got a little…” he trails off as he begins to wipe off the mud from her face. All Madge can do is stare into the rain as stonily as she can, because if she lets a single emotion leak, he’ll know just how overwhelmed she feels to be at the receiving end of such care from him. It didn’t help that pulling out a handkerchief was so…so _Jane Auste_ n like.

Once he’s done he stuffs the soiled hankie back into his pocket, and to her surprise, lies down next to her.

At her shocked look, he explains, “Rock is too low. My back was starting to hurt.”

Now that he mentioned it, he was rather hunched. Madge looks up; she’s short enough that she can sit with only a slight bend to her spine.

With a small sigh, Madge pushes back the hair from her face and squirms on the stiff ground, unable to get comfortable.

“You should lie down too,” Gale speaks up, his words making her cheeks burn. “Could rain for a while. Might as well get comfortable too.”

Madge looks down again, but is distracted by her own t-shirt this time. She’s wearing a white t-shirt. To clarify, she’s wearing a thin, cotton white t-shirt, with a bright blue bra on. To make it extremely clear: she’s wearing a translucent t-shirt that’s clinging to every inch of her torso, while her bright blue bra is painfully visible.

“Oh my God,” Madge groans, hiding her face behind her hands. She was beyond mortified.

“What?” Gale asks rather snappishly. She suddenly remembers his earlier suggestion.

Crossing her arms over her chest to give her a semblance of coverage, she shakes her head. “I don’t wanna put my head on dirt.”

“You can rest it on my chest,” Gale offers easily, as if that’s a very common thing two non-acquaintances did.

Madge peeks down at his bare chest and then back into the rain.

Her back will thank her, is what she tells herself as she lowers herself slowly. It’ll stop him from staring at her boobs, is what she continues to reason, even though instead of looking at them, he’ll be able to feel them pressed against his side.

She should have just laid her head flat against him, but she turns on her side so that it’s her cheek that’s flushed against his chest. It’s to keep any weight off her ankle, is what she tries to bluff to herself.

Gale has to readjust his arm since she’s lying on it, and ends up resting his hand against her hip, drawing her snug to him. A hum begins in her chest.

The rain has smoothed down the dark hair that was scattered across his torso, so all Madge feels is a firm, but soft warmth beneath her. She now understood why so many girls ached to be held by Gale. Lying there, even in the dirt in the middle of woods, with his masculine scent surrounding her and his heartbeat strumming against her cheek, Madge truly felt more content than she ever had in her entire life.

Madge could admit now she was sexually attracted to Gale. Who wasn’t? But surprisingly enough, being held by him doesn’t really turn her on- it soothes her, and with the sweet pitter-patter of the rain, combined with the smell and feel of Gale, she’s lulled into gentle sleep.

It is there, in between wakefulness and not, that she allows herself to feel without shame the deep desire she has to care for Gale. And for him to care for her.

About 15 minutes later, the rain lets up and she and Gale disentangle. Without asking, Gale lifts her again, this time on the back she could not stop staring at.   
Neither of them speak as he walks them back to his truck and Madge can’t help but wonder if Gale feels the same way she does.

She doesn’t know what scares her more. If he does or doesn’t.

***  
“Where’s my fucking smoke?” Madge growls out irritatedly to the kitchen staff. A moment later her pack is tossed to her. Joey was always a no good sneak.

Stalking out of the back door, she lets the door slam shut behind her without a care in the world.

Her waitress job blackened her soul, it truly did. There was nothing in the universe she hated more, but the pay was decent and the tips crucial.

_Just a few more months…_

Taking a much-needed drag, Madge leans against the wall of the shitty diner, letting her head hang as she savored the few moments of quiet.

For a few minutes, it’s just her and the crickets, and she silently smoked her cigarette, wondering if her Mother was watching her. Wondering if she even cared what Madge was doing.

Her mind is shifting from bitterness to organic chemistry, and she’s nearly mentally completed the 3D model she has to render for her class when she hears a laugh she’d recognize anywhere.

Looking up with a speed that would be embarrassing if anyone else saw, Madge sees Gale with…

_Johanna Mason_

Her jaw reflexively tightens at the site of the spiky-haired woman. Johanna was a bitch. There was no other word to describe her, though whore did a good job as well. Her history with Mason went way back, but all Madge can focus on now is the way she grabs Gale’s arm playfully, and how he allows himself to be tugged.

She pulls him down enough so she can say something in his ear. He pulls away and rubs his neck nervously. She can hear his shy laughter halfway down the alleyway where she stood. She must be biting her tongue, because all Madge can taste is blood.

Mason throws her head back and says something haughtily, though Madge can’t make out the words. Gale shakes his head and she shoves him gently. When Gale slings an arm around her narrow shoulders and pulls her along, it’s as if she’s peering through a red mist of blood.

Madge tosses her cigarette down roughly before crushing it with her heel savagely.

To think, Madge was fucking stupid enough to think Gale actually cared about her. Oh, she could laugh, if she didn’t want to scream. If she wasn’t blinking away tears.

* * *

“Hello?” Madge answers stiffly.

“Hey,” Gale responds, as if everything is fine and dandy. “I would have texted but you still have me blocked.”

“What do you want?” Madge snaps, pushing away the sudden urge to cry. She had been dangerously close to crying over Gale yesterday, but she vowed then and there- never again.

“What’s your problem?” Gale asks angrily. “I called about our fucking project, that’s what I want. Jesus.”

“You do your shit and I’ll do mine,” Madge replies back just as angrily. “I don’t get why we have to see each other every other day.”

“I’m fairly certain your period is over, so are you gonna tell me what’s actually bothering you? We were getting along fine last time we saw each other.”

More like the last time he saw her.

“Fine? You wanna see me? You can come over,” like hell she was going to make this easy on him. If he wanted an appointment, he’d have to drag his swaggering ass to her apartment.

“You sure?” Gale asks hesitantly. Madge pauses. Looking back, inviting him over was anything but a good idea, but she’d look like a pussy if she backed out now.

“If you gotta get permission from Mommy, I’ll wait, otherwise just come,” Madge tells him, not waiting for his response and hanging up.

Flinging herself across her bed, Madge buries her face into her blanket as she tries to get a fucking grip.

She had been horny. That’s it. She didn’t actually care about him. His six pack just made her brain go haywire. It was evolution at play. And the thing with Johanna? She just let her personal feelings of Johanna mix in with her animosity with Gale, creating a toxic outcome. No big deal.

Feeling a lot better, she sat up. That’s right. She was too smart for this bullshit. Madge Undersee was not the kind of girl to be hung over a guy. Especially if the guy in question was Gale freaking Hawthorne.

Yes, she’d dress in a nice blouse and skirt- her usual style, nothing too fancy, work with Gale to get their things done, and send him on his merry way, making her life would go back to normal.

She doesn’t even put on a speck of makeup, and ties up her hair in a simple ponytail. God forbid Gale be given the impression that she was dressing up for him.

She’s tidying up the living room when the door is knocked. Going over, she opens the door and let’s Gale in.

He’s wearing a brown leather jacket with a green shirt on underneath it, with a pair of simple blue jeans. He hadn’t dressed up for her

Stop that! What is wrong with you?

“Would you like something to drink?” Madge asks breaking the suddenly awkward silence. Gale seems to be shaken out of a stupor.

“Nah,” he answers quickly. “Say, is Katniss here?”

“No,” Madge says slowly. There was something noticeably off with him, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. “She’s out with Peeta.”

This seems to relax him. Probably cause he hates Peeta and vice versa.

Deciding she doesn’t want to get into whatever frat house drama that was so clearly weighing him down, Madge heads over to the couch and picks up her laptop.

“Oh,” she says when she looks at her screen. “Our professor emailed us.”

Three minutes later, they’re both sitting with grim expressions.

“So not only does he want us to test a control site, but drive twenty miles out to test where a factory is, but also find a variable to yields higher production?” Gale asks as he re-reads the email.

“Yup,” Madge intones.

“This is a fucking entry level class,” Gale curses. “He’s literally asking us to solve global warming.”  
She wishes he hadn’t said that, because now it’s reminded her of their time in the forest, which, at this point, feels like a dream.

“It could be a lot worse,” Madge finally says, not looking at him. “Let’s just try to figure this out.”

Except the opposite happens. They don’t make any progress, and every roadblock and dead end heightens their tempers.

It’s only when she catches him watching a youtube video, that she snaps.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Madge snarls viciously. “I have an 8 AM lab tomorrow and I’m busting my ass trying to find something that fucking works, and you’re watching monster trucks?”

“Calm down,” Gale huffs with a scowl. “We’ve been doing this for two hours straight. I’m just taking a little break.”

“No, no ‘breaks’,” Madge barks. “Do your work and then get the hell out.”

Something ugly appears on Gale’s face.

“While I’m sure Daddy dearest made his fortune violating workers rights, everyone needs a break Undersee.”

Madge can’t take it anymore. Leaning towards him, Madge brings her hand to his face and shoves it away from her violently. Not quite a slap, but just as humiliating.

“I have literally never fucking hated someone as much you,” Madge hisses, chest heaving. Gale keeps his face turned away from her, and as Madge stares at his rigid form, she wonders if she has made a very terrible mistake.

When Gale slowly turns his head back, her breath catches in her throat at the raw rage unconcealed on his face. Before she can apologize- or run, Gale has the front of her blouse in his fist and jerks her forward so that his nose is inches away from her’s.

His eyes are almost colorless with anger.

“Let me explain this in words, since you’re a woman,” Gale whispers lowly, every exhale dusting her face. “You don’t get to hit me like that. You just don’t.”

Her blood feels like it’s on fire. He’s so close to her she could count every individual eyelash if didn’t have so many. She should be afraid. She should apologize. She should shout for help.

She reaches down and takes hold of his free hand, and brings it up to rest on her breast.

Gale’s eyes widen almost comically, but he does not lower his gaze from hers. On her breast, his hand lays limp, but he also didn’t move away.

“Do you want to hurt me, Gale?” Madge whispers, scooting closer to him. His hand, instinctively or not, tightens its grip.

“No,” he answers immediately. His gaze still does not stray. That’s how she knows he’s not lying.

But Madge does not want sweetness. She doesn’t want caresses and gentle kisses. That’s too close to what her heart is so bad at hiding.

If she can have Gale Hawthorne only once, let it be all fire and violence. Consumption, not devotion.

Their lips meet in a wet frenzy, and Madge feels she has come alive as her body melts into his. Gale pulls her into his lap before slipping his tongue into her mouth. For a few moments, her senses are blurred as both her mouth and hips rock into him, the place between her legs pure liquid fire.

“Gale,” Madge moans into his mouth, legs tightening around his hips. They pull away to breathe, and Madge stares at his kissed lips and hair she messed up. And then she really feels what she’s been grinding on. Her skirt has ridden up onto her thighs, and sitting right under her panties is _him_.

He seems to catch her thought, because he winks and pulls her hips back and forth, simulating her earlier action. Her breath catches in her throat as she takes in how large he is.

“Let’s take things into the bedroom, hm?” Gale doesn’t wait for her answer and stands up with her in his arms. At this new angle, he pokes into her more insistently, and Madge can’t help but moan at the sensation.

“You like that baby?” Gale asks before kissing her again. This time it’s Gale who thrusts into her, and it’s all Madge can do but hold onto him for sheer life as his thick cock rubs against her cotton clad clit.

Gale pulls away again and starts kissing her neck as he walks to her bedroom. He’s been here a few times visiting Katniss, and it seems he remembers which one is hers.

He pauses when he steps into the room, taking in the surroundings.

“Minimalist,” he comments wryly.

“Shut up,” Madge growls, kissing him again. He happily complies as he lowers her onto her bed.

It’s only when Gale has pulled off his shirt (when did he take off his jacket?) and crawls over her, does Madge realize the situation has gotten totally out of hand. She didn’t want him to remember this as the day ‘Gale fucked Madge’.

She wanted it to be known as ‘Madge fucked Gale.’

She wanted to make him beg.

Placing two hands on his chest gently, Madge stops him shyly.

“Gale there’s….well, I,” Madge stutters nervously. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to do…”

“Sure thing baby,” Gale agrees thoughtlessly. Leaning down, he brushes his lips against her ear. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Ok,” Madge says breathlessly. “C-Could you get on your back?”

Gale pauses before rolling off her, lying down beside her.

Folding his hands beneath his head, Gale smiles cockily at her. “Your ride awaits.”

Funny.

Quickly sliding her panties off, Madge swings a leg over so that she’s straddling his chest. God did his body hair feel good on her wet cunt. Then she removes her blouse. Her bra follows similarly.

“Fuck,” Gale breathes, squeezing her breasts and pulling her down for another kiss. Although it’s not in the plan, she lets him take each breast into his mouth, because, frankly, it feels too damn good.

She pulls away though as soon as she feels herself losing control to him.

“Don’t you wanna know what I want to do?” Madge says innocently, running a finger up and down his chest.

“Go ahead,” Gale says in a strangled voice. Here, Madge hesitates. The thing is, Madge has never done this before, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. But she had a plan, and she couldn’t back out now.

Toughening her nerves, Madge crawls up until her thighs straddle his face. Gale gives her a smug smirk before she lowers herself onto his mouth.

_“Oh!’_

Madge nearly shrieks as Gale licks her languidly. She’s hardly steadied herself when his tongue finds her clit.

“Oh God, Gale,” Madge cries, reaching down and tangling her hands in his hair. Every stroke of his tongue felt like an injection of pure heroin. Gale hums beneath her, and when Madge looks down, her breath is stolen for a new reason.

He looks truly beautiful as he peers up at her with half-lidded eyes and her hands in his thick black hair. There was no other word.

She has a sudden rush of affection for him, and one of her hands leave his hair to gently cup his cheek.

Gale’s eyes soften as they look up at her, but Madge can’t contemplate that, because he’s stopped sucking on clit and has shot his tongue straight into her.

“Gale-oh!” Madge loses the ability to speak as his tongue finds that special part of her, and her hips begin to undulate wildly as she tries to grind herself further into his mouth. One hand in his hair, the other clutching her breast, Madge has the most intense orgasm of her life in Gale’s mouth.

Madge slumps against her headboard as she shakily returns to herself. With a sinking feeling, she realizes that she had gotten too into it, and had been unable to enact her plan. Her ashamed thoughts are interrupted when she feels Gale’s tongue down there again.

“You don’t have to do that…” Madge tries to tell him, but he holds down her hips securely and sucks her clit so hard so nearly cries tears of pleasure.

Besides making her heart pump madly, Gale’s generosity has given her a second shot at following through with her plan.

When he’s certain she won’t run away, Gale’s grip on her hips loosen, and Madge takes the opportunity to wound their fingers together, bringing his hands up to above his head. For a few moments, Madge lets his magic tongue work its wonders on her, but when silver spots begin to appear in the edge of her vision, she desperately forces her limbs into action.

Grabbing her strategically placed blouse, Madge gently winds the fabric around Gale’s wrists. And then she ties him to the headboard.

Gale seems to have been as lost as she had been, because he only realizes what’s happened when she firmly ties the knot.

Satisfied with her work, Madge gets off of his face and returns to his chest. Now it was she who smiled smugly.

His eyes flash to her threateningly, but before he can say anything, she speaks.

“You have no idea who I am,” Madge tells him dangerously. “You don’t know what I can do.”

Slowly, a smirk begins to cross his lips

“Well, I’d love a demonstration, princess,” Gale tells her saucily.

Madge smiles at him sweetly. Poor chap had no idea what he had coming.

Running her hands down his powerful chest, Madge slides back until she’s seated on him again. She’s left a trail of her wetness, making him glisten. He looks awfully satisfied, probably thinking she’s going to ride him.

She grinds into him a few times to make him complacent before she scoots further back on his legs.

“You seem eager,” Madge comments as she runs a hand up and down his bulge. Gale makes a strangled sort of grunting noise when she leans down to kiss him through the fabric.

“That’s it,” Gale says eagerly when she unzips his jeans. Unbuttoning his boxers, his erection springs free. For a moment Madge gapes at it unabashedly. How will her plan work if he won’t fit?! Despite her hesitation to take it for a test ride, her mouth inexplicably waters at the mere sight of him. She has never found any dick to be attractive, but Gale’s is so handsome, she feels a sharp tug between her legs just by staring at him

“Suck it, Madge,” Gale commands breathlessly, bucking his hips up.

“Yes, Gale,” Madge whispers, leaning down to lick the tip. Gale groans when she removes her tongue, but it’s replaced when she licks the length of him, the muscles of his lower stomach already tensing.

“Do you like that?” Madge croons, licking him up and down before circling the tip.

“P-Put it in your mouth,” Gale gasps, beads of perspiration on his forehead.

Madge pretends to think. “Mm…No.”

Before Gale could complain, she ducks her head and licks the line of his balls.   
“Holy fucking shit,” Gale curses loudly, arms straining against his restraints.

Madge wraps a hand around the length of him, stroking him up and down slowly as she took one of his balls into her mouth. By the time she moved on to his other ball, Gale couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

She knew from the way he throbbed in her hand, he was close. Which is why she pulls away.

Gale blinks dazedly when he realizes she’s stopped.

“What’re you doing?” Gale croaks as he peered down at her.

“Having fun,” Madge answers honestly. She finally puts him in her mouth, but only till the tip.

“Fuck Madge, a little more,” Gale complains, but she pays him no heed. One hand stroking him, the other massaging his balls, and her mouth humming around the tip she sucked, she had Gale back at orgasm’s gate in seconds.

When she felt him expand in both her hand and mouth, she immediately pulls away.

“What the fuck!” Gale roars. “Are you fucking with me?”

“I thought that was obvious,” Madge says with a roll of her eyes.

“Listen, I don’t know if you’re a sadist freak, but if I don’t-”

“Shhh,” Madge places a finger against his lips. “You want to cum? Simple. Beg.”

Gale blinks at her as he processes her words. She thinks he’ll take up the challenge but then he says, “Madge, please, please let me cum.”

“Well that’s no fun,” Madge huffs. Standing up, Madge pulls off her skirt and tosses it behind her. “You’re going to be more convincing than that, babe.”

Gale doesn’t reply, instead staring intently at where she was most naked. Feeling utterly pleased with his reaction, Madge slowly lowers herself onto him.

Gripping him in one hand, she rubs his tip against her clit, body tremoring at the initial sensation.

“Put it in,” Gale begs. “Please, I’ll do anything- just let me fuck that cunt of yours baby.”

“You could do better than that,” Madge says through labored breathing. God knows she wanted nothing more than to have every delicious inch of him inside of her, but all good things to those who wait, right?

He’s squirming, trying to slide into her, but she keeps her grip tight, continuing to stroke him up and down as she angled herself.

She lets just the tip of him slip into her.

Dear _God_ she could not believe how that alone felt so good.

“Well, Gale?” Madge taunts, rendering all his bucking and cursing useless as she slowly fucked herself with just his tip. Tilting her hips forward, he was suddenly pressed against the same spot Gale’s tongue had been rubbing earlier.

“Ohhh,” Madge moans, shutting her eyes and working his cock right there. She could definitely come from this alone. Gale wasn’t as lucky.

Gale seems to realize this as well, or perhaps he’s simply hit his limit.

With a roar that makes her eyes fly open in shock, Madge barely catches her blouse being torn apart as Gale frees himself.

“Ga-”

She couldn’t even finish saying his name before he’s pounced down on her, his mouth on her’s, large hands pinning down her arms as his cock pushed into her till her very hilt.

Gale lifts his lips from hers to look down at her. She’s frozen, her eyes blown open and legs trembling against his hips as her body learns the sensation of being filled totally and completely.

She blinks a few times, her vision refocusing. Gale gives her another smirk and a quick peck before he pulls out of her.

Only to slam right back into her.

It’s as if every neuron in her body has been set on some holy fire as Gale pounded in and out of her, stretching and filling her in the same instant. As he kisses her and pistons himself over and over into her, Madge loses all thoughts of vengeance and pride and control.

There is only Gale.

“Gale!” Madge cries, actual tears spilling out of her eyes as her nails dug into his shoulders. There’s no way she can formulate the boundless emotions she feels for this man in this very moment, so she continues chanting his name as he grunts against her neck. _“Gale.”_

“Oh fuck,” Gale shudders. “Fuck Madge, you’re too- you’re too beautiful.”

She can’t really process his words. All she is aware of is him, and how she wants all of him all of him all of him inside of her.


	3. Chapter 3

She’s already awake when her alarm goes off. She hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before.

It’s been an exact week since...that night. An exact week where Madge has gone through the motions of living as detached, hollow, and a sharp ache piercing deep inside her that wouldn’t subside.

Letting her phone continue to blare the obnoxious sound, Madge rolls onto her side and stares at the ceiling of her room. A week ago, she had been in this same position, but with him on top of her.

She wishes she knew what he was going to say. He had been hovering over her when it was over, an indescribable look in his eyes. She had seen the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed, and just as he opened his mouth to speak, the front door of her apartment had opened, signaling the return of Katniss. Peeta could also be heard.

He had immediately jumped off her and frantically began pulling on his clothes while Madge continued to just lay there, the dread of realizing the consequences of her actions finally catching up to her.

Right before he had climbed out of her window and onto the fire escape, he had stopped and looked at her. Again he nearly spoke. Madge wonders if this crushing pain she’s felt since then would not exist if he had said something. But he didn’t. And with that, he was gone.

Finally reaching over to silence her alarm, Madge shuts her eyes tightly as tears threaten to leak out.

What had she been thinking? Did a small, desperate part of her think that she could have made Gale love her? Or was an even more desperate part just aching to be held by him?

Madge doesn’t have an answer to a single one of these questions, but she knows she has to get up and face the music. She’s already missed last week’s class and Gale and she have not worked a second on their project, leaving them worryingly behind. Just one semester. One semester where she has to hide her broken heart from him, and then she’ll never have to see him again.

* * *

_ Oh, God. I can’t do this _

She had come to class early, hoping to be there before Gale so he could be the one to decide if he wanted to sit with her or not, but he had beaten her to it. He was sitting in his ‘spot’, but Madge still had to decide if she had the guts to walk over to him.

With a sigh, she glances at the jacket that he had left behind. At least she had an excuse to speak to him.

Squaring her shoulders, Madge walks down the deserted auditorium steps and into the row where Gale sits. Immediately his head snaps up and he looks over at her, face expressionless.

“Hey,” Madge says in a blessedly normal tone. “You forgot your jacket.”

She holds out said jacket, but Gale just looks at it. Madge stands there for a moment awkwardly, wondering what the hell she should do next when Gale reaches for it.

But instead of just taking it like a normal person, Gale clasps both the leather and her hand.

“Madge, we need to talk about what happened,” Gale begins without preamble, nothing hesitant in his grip or voice.

In a way, Madge was thankful for his directedness. Even if it made her heart clench with remembrance.

“It was a one-time thing,” Madge tries to say nonchalantly, but she can’t meet his gaze. “No big deal.”

Gale’s hand immediately releases hers.

“Right,” is all he says as he turns back in his seat, facing the front once more. “Yeah. No big deal.”

Madge sits down next to him. Neither of them speaks for the rest of class.

* * *

Things don’t get any less awkward between them after that.

Whenever they meet up to work on their project, Gale is quiet and stand-offish while Madge is constantly moments away from sobbing. Not the most ideal conditions.

On top of that, the stress of everything was really starting to get to Madge. It was as if all the energy in her body had been vaporized. She was constantly fatigued, the only time she didn’t have a headache was when she was asleep, and her appetite practically diminished. Her skin grew pale in pallor, and Katniss suggested iron pills. They didn’t really help.

Despite all of this, they decide on a time and date to revisit the river bank, this time by a local chemical factory to test the slit there.

Because of both their hectic schedules, they have to set out at 6 am. As Madge stands outside her apartment, waiting for Gale to pick her up, she seriously wonders if she could fall asleep standing if she tried.

Gale arrives before she’s able to test this hypothesis, and Madge forces herself to drag herself into the truck cabin.

“Hey,” she nearly slurs, too tired to work her mouth probably.

As she slumps against the door, she sees Gale observe her from the corner of her eye.

“You ok?” he asks gruffly. That’s the first personal thing he’s said to her in weeks.

Madge shrugs. “Tired.”

Gale doesn’t say anything to that, but a few moments later, he asks, “Did you eat breakfast?”

Madge shakes her head.

“Me neither,” he says. “Wanna get McDonald's?”

“Sure.”

Less than 10 minutes later, Gale pulls up into the drive-through.

“What do you want?” he asks as he looks over the menu through his window. Madge leans over to do the same and is rewarded a whiff of Gale’s smell.

“Egg and cheese bagel,” she says as she clears her throat. Gale nods and puts in the order. Madge realizes when he pulls up to the pickup window that she didn’t bring her wallet, so Gale will have to pay for her meal. Madge fidgets anxiously in her seat as the employee at the window tells Gale the total. What was she going to do?

To her surprise, Gale doesn’t even look at her as he takes out his card and pays. Madge knew it wasn’t  _ that _ big of a deal, but she also knew that when you weren’t financially stable, every dollar spent  _ was _ a big deal.

Heart in her throat, Madge is still chiding herself to calm down and stop overreacting when Gale lightly tosses the bag of food into her lap.

“Thank you,” she says quietly as she reaches for her bagel. Gale shrugs in response.

Fully aware of how hungry she really was in that moment, Madge eagerly opens up the wrapper around her food.

And then the  _ smell _ hits her.

“Oh my God,” Madge gasps, dropping the bagel as her hand flies up to clamp her mouth.

“What is it?” Gale asks frantically, eyes alternating between looking at her and the road every few seconds.

“Pull over,” Madge moans. Even though the bagel is by her feet, the rancid cheese stench is still so strong that by the time the truck stops Madge barely has any time to rush out of the truck and vomit out her last night’s dinner of baby carrots.

She’s so nauseous that her knees fall onto the gravel of the side road, her arms coming around to clutch at her aching stomach as she gagged.

She’s still choking on bile when Gale comes next to her, one arm going around her shoulders to support her and his other hand on her forehead, holding her hair back.

After what seems like an eternity, she finally stops throwing up. Limbs like jello, she nearly falls into him when Gale pulls her into his side.

“Are you ok?” Gale asks worriedly, taking out once more his hankie and wiping around her mouth.

She doesn’t even realize she’s crying until she has to sniffle.

“Everything hurts,” Madge cries, unable to articulate any further how she felt. Her body ached, her head felt like it was about to explode and her stomach still hadn’t totally settled.

“You have a fever,” Gale says in a tone usually reserved for small children. “C’mon. Let’s get you in bed.”

“But the river…” Madge protests weakly. Gale shakes his head and helps Madge up, more or less supporting all her weight.

“The river can wait,” he says with no room for argument. Madge groans as he shuffles her forward but doesn’t say anything say anything further.

In the short ride back to her apartment, Madge grows clammy and can’t stop shaking. She can’t remember a time she ever felt so crummy.

“I’m s-sorry,” Madge apologizes to Gale through chattering teeth as he parks. “I’ve messed it all up…”

“No you didn’t, Madge,” Gale says gently. “You didn’t do this on purpose.”

That doesn’t make her any less guilty, so she opens the door, determined to make it to her bed without burdening him even more. But when her feet touch the pavement, she’s hit with a bout of dizziness so bad, it’s all she can do but faint.

* * *

_ What the…? _

Madge blinks rapidly as she tries to figure out what’s going on. As thing comes into focus, she realizes she’s in her bed, cocooned in several blankets, and an extremely worried Gale Hawthorne is trying to feed her something.

“Oh thank God, you’re awake,” Gale says, even though that’s obvious. Upon closer inspection, he seems to be holding a rather disgusting looking bowl of white...goop.

“What is that?” Madge asks as she furrows her nose. Strangely enough, as gross as it looks, it’s smell doesn’t nauseate her as that bagel had done.

“Lamb bone marrow meal,” Gale answers, as he holds a spoonful of it to her mouth. “I had Thom bring it over.”

Madge doesn’t even bother asking why Gale has lamb bone marrow sitting around at his place because frankly she’s starving and she isn’t really in the mood to get up and string together something to eat.

She accepts the bite, and her eyes widen as she  _ tastes  _ it.

“I know it doesn’t taste the best, but it’s really good for you. Ma gave it to us whenever any of us were sick. Bam, instant cure,” Gale rambles nervously as she chews.

“This is delicious!” Madge exclaims, having no idea why  _ anyone  _ would think otherwise. She’s only half aware of Gale’s stunned expression as she takes the bowl from him and downs the contents in under five minutes. She can’t remember the last time she’s had such a satisfying meal.

“Well...I wasn’t expecting that,” Gale laughs almost unbelievingly. “Guess it’s good you liked it.”

“I loved it,” Madge corrects, placing the bowl on her nightstand and flopping back down on her bed. With a full tummy for the first time in over a week, she’s already beginning to feel drowsy.

“Your fever broke,” Gale tells her as he gingerly takes a seat on the edge of her bed. “I don’t really know what happened to you. I think you should see a doctor.”

“It’s just stress,” Madge sighs as her eyes shut tiredly. “I’ve been feeling crappy for a while now.”

“Uh...wanna talk about it?” Gale offers awkwardly. Madge just shakes her head.

After that, Gale is quiet for so long, Madge nearly falls asleep. When he finally speaks again, she jumps, startled.

“I’m probably part of that problem, huh,” Gale says as more of a statement than question. Madge looks at him curiously.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” she tells him honestly. After all, it wasn’t his fault that she had belatedly realized she wanted to love him.

“If you say so,” Gale says quietly. With that, he gets up and gives her a tight-lipped smile. “So are you good now?”

“Yes,” Madge answers, feeling more than awkward as Gale stared down at her. “Thank you for everything. Really.”

Gale waves her off. “Don’t mention it. If you don’t need anything, I gotta go now.”

Madge nods her head quickly. “No, I’m great, really. Thanks again.”

“It’s fine, Madge,” Gale rolls his eyes but his smile widens. “Just call me if you need anything, ok?”

Annoyingly, her eyes prick with tears. What had gotten into her? Her emotions had been more unstablethan a francium molecule lately.

“Ok,” is all she can manage to whisper. Gale nods his head and a minute later she hears the front door open and then shut. The sound echoes inside of her chest emptily.

* * *

Madge was pretty sure her waitress job was slowly killing her. The food they were serving was such shit, she was nearly always nauseous whenever she was in that Goddamn diner.

As she served yet another table, Madge returns to the kitchen with her back and feet absolutely  _ aching. _

Just as she’s about to plop in the ancient plastic chair shoved into the corner, the dinner bell is rung once more, meaning Madge has to go out and prepare the served food.

_ Why do so many fucking people come here to eat _

It’s a large order, requiring her to take out two trays. The heavy load just adds to the strain on her already hurting back. But when she sees who exactly is sitting at table 19, Madge would gladly carry 6 trays to Tibet instead of going over there.

Grinding her teeth, Madge makes her way over to Mason and her crew.

“Well look who it is,” Mason taunts as she draws nearer. “Served by Goldilocks herself tonight!”

Mason sits with all guys (slut) and they all find her ‘joke’ hilarious.

“I can be your Papa Bear,” one of them offers salaciously.

“Ignore him,” another says, shoving Papa Bear’s face away. “Be my Mama Bear and we can have our own Baby Bear.”

“Don’t you idiots know?” Mason says loudly as Madge places their food in front of them. “Undersee already has a boo, and they’re in luuuuurve.”

As all the guys fake wail, Madge looks up at Johanna sharply. She’s grinning at her maniacally.

“What the fuck are you going on about?” Madge snaps, hating that she couldn’t refuse the brunette’s obvious bait.

“C’mon, Undersee,” Mason scoffs. “We’ve known each other how long? I see right through you.”

“I would invest in some glasses if I were you,” Madge says icily, stacking the two trays and walking away.

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she was hounded once more.

“Hey Madge, I know I said I’d pay you back last week but I need-”

“Fuck off Joey.”

Without waiting for his response, or anyone else’s for that matter, Madge slams the kitchen door behind her and goes to kick an empty trash can as hard as she can.

Mason was messing with her. It was what she was best at, after all.

Desperate for a way to calm down, Madge pulls out her pack and quickly lights a cigarette.

Just as she puts the stick to her mouth, however, a feeling of cold dread stops her.

Since she started smoking at 16, she’s never hesitated, but now, for a reason she can’t explain, she just  _ knows  _ she shouldn’t.

Without her permission, like an old horror film in slow-mo, her mind begins to go through the events of these past few weeks- red flag upon red flag popping up.

Just as quick as she had rushed out, she rushes in, but this time straight to the bathroom. By the time she’s locked herself in the largest stall, she’s crying so hard she can hardly read through the contacts on her phone. By a miracle her thumb lands on Katniss, and an even larger miracle, her dark-haired friend picks up.

“Hi, Madge,” Katniss answers casually.

“Katniss,” Madge cries. “I-I need you t-to come here.”

“What’s wrong?” Katniss asks frantically.

Madge sinks to the bathroom floor, one hand holding her phone to her ear, the other clutching at her hair.

“I think,” Madge pauses to sob. “I think I’m pregnant.”

* * *

Even though they live half an hour away, Katniss comes just a little over fifteen minutes later.

“I picked this up from the pharmacy across the street,” she explains as she holds up the home pregnancy test box.

Madge just nods. She tries to unbutton her jeans so she can pull them down and pee, but her fingers are shaking too much.

To her surprise, Katniss steps towards her and undoes her button. She even pulls down her fly.

“Thank you,” Madge whispers, but she doesn’t have it in her to smile at the moment.

Katniss nods. “Let’s take this test then.”

With Katniss’s uncharacteristically patient help, Madge follows every direction. Then they just have to wait two minutes.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s positive,” Madge moans, hiding her face behind her hands. “My life is ruined…”

“No it’s not,” Katniss says strongly. “No matter what happens, I’m going to help you.”

While her friend’s words offer her a slight comfort, every passing second feels like sheer agony for Madge. A part of her wished she could just die instead of reading the test’s result.

The timer on Katniss’s phone goes off. Unable to bear another moment of uncertainty, Madge yanks the test up.

It drops from her hand numbly a moment later.

_ No. No. No. This can’t be happening. _

She knows Katniss is speaking to her, but Madge can’t hear her over the sound of her world crashing all around her. Everything she had been working towards, destroyed in a moment of careless arrogance. She was as degenerated of a failure as the monsters of her childhood.

“Madge,” she hears Katniss’s voice say faintly. “Who’s the Father?”

The bathroom door is suddenly opened. A moment later, Peeta’s blonde head stares at them from above the stall wall.

“It’s Gale’s, isn’t it?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there. If you know me on tumblr you've already seen the first two chapters. If you don't, welcome! There will (probably) be one more chapter to this, so I hope you guys enjoy this short but tumultuous ride!!


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